Project Runway: It's a Nice Day for a Rock Wedding

August 29, 2014 5:57 AM - Season 13, Episode 6

The designers are tasked with creating "unconventional" wedding looks to impress guest judge Dita Von Teese.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero (28 comments total)

What horrible outfits this week, apart from the winning two, Fade's and (very, very grudgingly) Amanda's - although hers was a re-hash of everything she's done before, this time with the strips sewn in those triangles rather than left as fringe. Amanda's still just a one-way monkey.

All the other garments were fugly and/or atrociously made. And colour me shocked that Korina's outfit actually looked half decent on the runway. How did that happen?

Char only has herself to blame. She agreed with Sandhya that it should be 'citrus' - which means bright, popping shades of yellow, orange, lime green. But then she later said she wished she'd chosen a softer yellow. Well,that wouldn't have been a citrus shade then. Char also suggested leather, I think, and then found out she didn't know how to sew it. Her finished bodice looked like one of those nasty, cheap leather handbags you can buy for about £3 that's made up of scraps of leather sewn together.

Alexander was spot-on with his comment about Sandhya's dress and after that I couldn't unsee the corn cob. The dress was awful in every way - design, execution and taste - and I think Sandhya was very lucky that this wasn't a double elimination, or she'd have been going too. As much as Tim likes her, I doubt even he would have used his save for that monstrosity.

And I knew Nina and Zac would overrule Heidi about who would win. But Sean won for his design, which was beautiful. All Kini did was sew together the pieces that Sean had cut out, and so he was the machinist, not the designer, of the blouse.

This season seems to be lacking the draaahhh-maaaahhh of last season with the Ken/Alexander bitchfest and that loon who wouldn't let his model wear makeup. There are still a couple of the designers in this season that I don't even recognise or remember from the previous week.
posted by essexjan at 6:18 AM on August 29, 2014

My +1 comments that they could edit the show to be about the construction instead of the drama. There were 'make it work' moments that were not shown so instead we could watch KorinAmanda the straight hair twins roll eyes at one another.

Note that Tim Gunn was completely on point with his critiques in the workroom vis a vis the judging. This is a good sign at least when contrasted with the totally irrational scripted judging of the last episode.
posted by sciencegeek at 6:25 AM on August 29, 2014

I dislike quite a bit about Sandhya's point of view, and find everything she makes completely unwearable.

Most of them lost sight of the fact that Dita von Teese was there. And judging. Of course she loved Sean and Kini's looks. And no one else's. Would she ever wear Amanda's dress or Fade's?

I thought it was funny that Korinna said she was into minimal and clean, and wouldn't design weird. And Amanda said she wouldn't not design weird. And Amanda's look ended up very minimal and clean, and Korinna's was full of weird little unnecessary uglies.

Chiara Ferragni was....strange.
posted by the webmistress at 7:59 AM on August 29, 2014

I think often when two people hate each other, they magically end up on the same team because they're the last two designers left after everyone else is paired off. Such coincidence. It's almost as if it was being done intentionally!

Apparently one day is now the norm. This week Tim didn't even mention (on camera) that this was a one day challenge. I said this last week too, but I really wish they would get some more time. Maybe then designers would at least have the time to think about their designs and properly finish them.

I went to Wikipedia and checked for a past season what the normal time & money budgets were (I picked season 4). It looks like the first half of the season was mostly one day challenges, and the second half was mostly two day challenges. As for money, if I only count challenges where a budgets was mentioned (so excluding unconventional or those where fabrics were otherwise provided) the average budget was $195 per designer and challenge. I checked a few of the more recent seasons as well, but there was no (or very little) info there on time or money.

I now have some hope that maybe we'll get some two day challenges. I'll probably see this season out no matter what, but if things keep going like this I'm not sure about next season. The mediocre results, the failed attempts at manufactured drama, the judges... I'm not sure if it's that enjoyable anymore.

Anyway, as for this challenge I again liked Fade's look. And Sean's was quite nice too. Kini's description of his idea for his look made me wish he had been describing a look for a male gay wedding.: "A masculine top, and a more feminine bottom."

And did anyone else notice how scary thin Sean's model's ankles were? I think I often don't really notice or think about how skinny the models are until I suddenly notice something like that. Once you start looking at the models and not just the clothes it's quite disconcerting.
posted by bjrn at 11:17 AM on August 29, 2014

Even though Korina is a shitty, boring designer, she'll never get kicked off because she's the drama bomb. I almost felt bad for Amanda this week. Almost.
posted by MsVader at 1:34 PM on August 29, 2014

When the goth bride was standing there during fitting, she seemed extra tiny.

Starting the episode with Amanda being called fake made me laugh, but Korina is awful. Her attitude doesn't match at all with her work or taste level so far. Not doing anything "weird?" And then Amanda thinks she does weird? 60s via 90s is exactly what she does and it's offensively boring for those reasons.
It would be one thing if they thought that her work wasn't deserving, but they suddenly dumped on their roommate personally in the morning? There's no way that's not going to be uncomfortable unless they don't regard her as human. It feels like it's stuck in there to make Amanda more sympathetic because they both sound hateful from what little we hear and see.

What does "blonde salad" mean? I had to cc it to make sure that's what she said.

Char and Sandhya were horrible but at least Char knew it was horrible. She'd never worked with leather before, so from the start it made no sense, but it's hard to think Sandhya thought that was good, no matter what color it was. If she was actively avoiding some body con thing, I would have appreciated that at least, but it really looked like a horrible accident of tacking things on to other things. If she hadn't won previously, they might have sent them both.

Fade and Sean are still the only two that are doing anything interesting to me. Kini has craftsmanship down but I don't know if he has any innovative ideas.

I like how Heidi's seat is a bit away from the others so when she goes off on her personal tastes, it's physically set apart from the others.
posted by provoliminal at 1:39 PM on August 29, 2014

This episode bored me. More fashion, less drama please! I enjoyed Fäde's look but agree that the goth bride wasn't working. Hopefully they'll start getting more time and focusing more on the actual fashion once they've finished eliminating a few more designers. The field is starting to get pretty thin.

Final three as Kini, Fäde, and I have no clue. I feel like there's still a bunch of designers I have no opinion on. Emily and Samantha? I'm not even sure which one is which off the top of my head. Alexander? No clue who that is without looking it up.
posted by Arbac at 1:49 PM on August 29, 2014

I also 100% support T-Lo's summary of this challenge

We like the idea of an unconventional wedding dress challenge, but they had to go and fuck it up by adding a second dress, forcing them into teams, and giving them mere hours to complete the task. In other words, once again, the show designs a challenge that all but guarantees terrible results. This is what the show wants now. Long gone are the days when you could expect to see gasp-worthy designs walk that runway. Today everyone oohs and aahs over anything that has a finished hem. The rest of the stuff is just fodder for the judges’ bitchy one liners. The shittier the clothes, the more material they have.

posted by Arbac at 2:11 PM on August 29, 2014 [4 favorites]

I watch a lot of competition shows, and ones like "Face Off" and "Jim Henson's Creature Shop" give the designers 2-3 days every single challenge. I don't know why Project Runway rushes things so much, because you'd think they'd realize the audience would love to see garments that were constructed with plenty of time or the nicest materials. I guess they don't care about that since Bunim/Murray took over. Bottom of the barrel.

The previews for next week have Tim coming in and voicing some sort of regret, so I'm guessing Char is back next week with the "Tim Gun save." He did say that if it was several more weeks down the line, he'd have saved her, which was a strange thing to keep in.
posted by xingcat at 2:30 PM on August 29, 2014

The Blonde Salad is the name of Chiara Ferragni's fashion blog.
posted by the webmistress at 3:58 PM on August 29, 2014

Is it a dressing joke? And if it is, does that make it any better?
posted by provoliminal at 4:46 PM on August 29, 2014

I like Char; she always seemed very in touch with reality and funny and her stuff was usually nice. After seeing how badly she botched the back of her dress though (thanks, Zac Posen), I think it wasn't a bad decision to let her go. How cruel was Tim to say, well I might have saved you a few weeks from now? Her response was so classy (something like, just hearing you say that warms my heart). I think I might have hit him. HIT TIM GUNN!

I'm over Kini's stuff. Yeah, yeah, he's a genius seamstress, but where's the vision? I feel like I've seen all his stuff before (I believe by a designer named Christian Siriano). Branch out, Kini!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:25 PM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Is it a dressing joke?

Hah! I didn't even make that connection. Fashion. Dressing. You're good.
posted by the webmistress at 6:14 PM on August 29, 2014

I think often when two people hate each other, they magically end up on the same team because they're the last two designers left after everyone else is paired off. Such coincidence. It's almost as if it was being done intentionally!

My guess is one of two things happen... After two designers who hate each other end up together, they go through the footage to find everything they can to play up that aspect. Alternatively, they just don't put those names in the hat.
posted by drezdn at 8:04 AM on August 30, 2014

Wasn't it the back of Sandhya's dress that Posen was commenting on? It was ankle-length and had a bizarre tack in the back which created volume? or maybe it was just the hem getting caught sewing the back seam.

I wish they'd saved the double-auf for this week and canned both of them. I don't think Char would've gone much farther anyway and I SINCERELY HOPE that she is not "saved" by Tim next week if that is what they are alluding to in the previews. She seems to be a nice, grounded person but her work has not been impressive so far. And Sandhya really lost sight of the forest for the trees this week. Her silhouette and construction was horrible; the time she spent making that type of lace--forget the term now--would've been better spent improving her design and, with Char, coming up with a better background story.

Alexander also has been dismal and since he got the Tim Seal of Approval before the show started, I expected better things from him. He is probably one of those (normal!) people who need more than a day to design and construct a wedding gown. As it was, his team started out with a gist of an idea, ox-blood lace, but then designed two completely ugly garments. No issues with the construction, it's just that not enough time was spent on the concept.

Loved Fade's dress of course and quite liked Emily's use of contrasting fabrics. They didn't coordinate very well but there were no major issues. I only know Dita von Teese through pictures of her posing on the red carpet; I'm not sure what credibility she brings to the judging. More credibility than a Kardashian? I thought she was unnecessarily critical re Emily's gown; she was the one who made the Elvira comment, right? Because that was flat out stupid.

On preview: I am absolutely sure that the pairings are pre-determined by the producers for maximum drama. Only in this case, Amanda and Korinna hadn't read their copy of the script. There was a lot of eye-rolling for sure but you notice that, other than the morning comment which happened *off-screen* (somewhere a camera person has lost their job), they worked together reasonably well. No meltdowns or running to Tim in tears.

A real team challenge would have Sandhya (partner poison) paired with Amanda or Fade. Amanda for the Gretchen-dramaz and Fade to urge her into a more sophisticated silhouette and for her to introduce Fade to color.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

On preview: I am absolutely sure that the pairings are pre-determined by the producers for maximum drama.

Definitely.

My impression of what happened was that Char and Korinna made the comments to Amanda before the camera person walked in. You know they would show it if they had captured it. By the time the cameras were rolling, Korinna just looked really embarrassed (I still can't believe she said, "You just go do you"......), trying to wave it all away, and Char wasn't even shown. It was shitty to say that every time Amanda won she took the win away from someone else when neither one of them are any better than Amanda. Who I happen to not hate, even though I seem to be in the overwhelming minority. I don't see what's so insufferable about her.

I agree that Char is underwhelming as a designer. As is Korinna.
posted by the webmistress at 10:30 AM on August 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

About the salad dressing thing, if that is the reason, it still doesn't make it a good name. I want an explanation because so far it looks appalling and too stupid for even the hackneyed "I let a child pick it" excuse.

Dita von Teese said Elvira wouldn't wear it because she always sticks to very classic styles. I think the big problem with that dress was the skirt, besides the whole "goth" idea. Another very stuck in the 90s person, but it may be that big trends really died at the millennium mark.
posted by provoliminal at 10:30 AM on August 30, 2014

Oh, I don't think Amanda is so awful. I'm not a fan of her designs... I liked her triangle swing dress this week, cute idea... I think she is trying to come off funny and self-deprecating in her close ups but, because the judges have been over-praising her fringe work, while ignoring the more talented Fade, viewers resent her. I think the producers are deliberately casting her in the Gretchen mode for ratings. She was upset that Korinna called her a phony and she would probably be just as upset to read what people are saying about her personally (vs criticizing her designs).
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:56 AM on August 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

Okay, watched it on Lifetime so hopefully didn't miss anything like the last few times.

I was also disappointed in the outcome of this challenge. As someone who had a fairly non-traditional wedding and wedding dress, I thought they could have done so much more! I know they hardly have time to come up with ideas, but wow, snoozeville! My dress was an ivory cocktail dress with a sweetheart neckline, black appliques, and rhinestones. I also looked at other colors and styles of cocktail and occasion dresses for my wedding.

Hell, even wedding dress retailers have more non-traditional styles now including colors and dyed dresses, black lace, etc.

I just feel like there was no imagination. They could have picked a really cool pattern, done an ombre dye, custom painting. Yeesh, even that red lace and white? (looked silver to me) applique was all off-the-rack and just slapped on.

And wow, Korinna! Amanda offered to make pants since Korinna said she "absolutely wouldn't have time" then was the opposite of thankful when Amanda busted her butt to make some freakin' pants!
posted by Crystalinne at 5:04 PM on August 30, 2014

Wikipedia says it's called the Blonde Salad because it's a mixed bag.

It's funnier if you know Italian.
posted by bq at 6:42 PM on August 31, 2014

I watch this on roku via the lifetime channel. If you go to the extra features or "clips" for this episode it gives you interviews with Amanda, Korinna and Char and the whole backstory, which makes the incident perhaps less dramatic than appeared in the episode and portrays Korinna's part in it as perhaps smaller and more sympathetic.

I have not been really impressed with Char's designs and I hope the Tim Gunn drama next week isn't to save her. I was rather hoping it would be something about Sean winning over Kini and any guilt Tim felt over that when Kini made Sean's top. (It's the kind of thing that Tim should have known and mentioned during the judging.)

I think that sometimes the producers give Tim info about what is going on in the workroom behind the scenes. That's how he knew about Santino impersonating him/Andre, etc. He watched the tape of those two guys last season (the ex ballet dancer and the other guy) getting angry at one another. So he may find out more from the crew about who made the shirt or even the Amanda drama. Or it could be some new drama entirely I guess.
posted by onlyconnect at 12:36 PM on September 1, 2014

Also, I really, really love the product placement shot of the fridge in the designers lounge they show after the runway show. It's a weird 2-3 second shot of just the fridge against a wall. No one is using it! I think it is really funny and a little threatening, like a gun introduced in Act I that will cause someone's death by Act III!
posted by onlyconnect at 5:24 PM on September 1, 2014 [3 favorites]

I do not get the Sean/Kini win debate. Yes, Kini hasn't won yet, but Sean designed that top, even if he didn't sew it. Kini made a beautifully tailored dress with an eyecatching detail, but the pants and top together were ruthlessly sleek and the flutter of that sleeve/back detail was so much a veil-reference without being a veil, just right. This isn't the British Sewing Bee after all.
posted by viggorlijah at 5:03 AM on September 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Well in the close up look, the judges looked at the seams of the top and praised the way it was made. That was all Kini, not Sean.

Do you think Sean would have won if the judges had known Kini made his top? I don't. Also, didn't Kini make the patterns for the top, not Sean? I think patterning involves more design than just the drawing, really.
posted by onlyconnect at 7:19 AM on September 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

In team challenges it's also a little bit about teamwork and time management. Sean had immunity, so whatever he'd have sent down the runway (e.g. topless model) would have been waved through. Kini demonstrated that time management is no issue and was really a good teammate to pick up Sean's slack like that. After all Kini made 50% of Sean's outfit, and arguably the more important 50%.
Couple that with the fact that Kini showed solid results in almost every challenge, it is perplexing that he hasn't won yet.
posted by travelwithcats at 3:56 AM on September 3, 2014

And didn't both, Sean and Kini, say that Kini should get the win when asked about it by the judges? I understand the judges ask the contestants this question to get a glimpse into interpersonal dynamics, so why disregard it then?
posted by travelwithcats at 4:00 AM on September 3, 2014

I think solid doesn't get you first prize though. But that points to a weakness in the show - the filming could have been to explain how Sean's sketch went from pencils on paper to the final garment - did he draft the pattern? Did he and Kini discuss the sleeves and the size of the back cape-thing because that to my amateur eye looked like an oval carefully cut on the bias and folded over to be fitted with some kind of facing underneath to give the bodice more structure. It's not a straightforward shirt with a cape attached to the seams as I thought at first, but something else, almost origami-ish. It's either the fabric and the draping combined, or something that makes it look like a classic men's shirt with a twist and not a poncho tucked into pants. And that is design plus the skill in draping difficult fabric on the bias perfectly against the model. With footage, they could have shown how that was achieved - did Kini look at the sketch and then whip this up on his own? He should've gotten first then. Or did Sean go over the sketch with him and help pattern, drape and explain his vision to Kini as the shirt was being sewn? In which case, still to Sean.
posted by viggorlijah at 4:37 AM on September 3, 2014

Idk, maybe I used the wrong word. His creations have not been called solid, but extraordinary, outstanding, fierce, spectacular, gorgeous, impeccable, and a bunch of other such adjectives. :-)
posted by travelwithcats at 7:53 AM on September 3, 2014 [1 favorite]